 Your perception of yourself is very complicated, similar to how you cannot see your nose, you may often be blinded by the things that you are best at. Usually, your talents are in the list places you expect, but if you must live a fulfilled life, you must search for them and utilize them. In this video, I will share with you 10 ways to identify your talents and use them. 1. Be open-minded One factor that hinders people from truly discovering themselves is closed-mindedness. Because you are likely blind to what some of your talents are, an excellent place to start when evaluating your abilities is to open your mind to the possibilities. As you age, your taste can change and your strengths may grow and be less broad. Furthermore, if you are closed-minded, you may keep up with the wrong notion that talent is limited to singing, dancing and playing musical instruments. Ability comes in different shapes and forms and extends into every facet of human existence. Being open to change means letting go of preconceived notions and honestly absolving the world around you. When you open your mind, you will be able to try out new things, volunteer in various causes, travel and explore and even take up challenges, all of which can help you discover your talent. 2. Take personality tests Most times, you may find it challenging to define your strengths, weaknesses and abilities clearly. But thanks to Maya Bridge type indicator and other test types, using them will help you determine the patterns in your similarly complex personality. Many of these test indicators use questions to make you aware of the characters you possess. The personality test on its own will not give you the full answers. You need to channel the results into your daily living. A lot of people take those tests and do nothing about them. They see the test as fun activities. Indeed, taking those assessments are fun, but that is not the primary purpose. These tests give you an insight into yourself. How you process things, what energizes you and the things that strain you, making it easier for you to discover your flaws and abilities. Once you know which category you fall into, you should start paying attention to your traits so that you can see your strengths and weaknesses more clearly in everyday life. 3. Identify your strengths and weaknesses The part of advantages is usually straightforward and enjoyable to most people. But for faults, a lot of people are rather not talk about them. When the word strength is mentioned, many people think only in the light of physical force. However, being able to control your emotions is your strength, the same as having the ability to analyze situations quickly. No matter how weird you think your gifts are, as long as it can solve a problem or salvage a case, it is your strength. You must accept it. Likewise, when weaknesses are mentioned, people assume it to be so terrible so they shut their minds towards flaws. Every human on earth has a defect, so you don't have to feel wrong about your faults. Indeed, accept them and work on them. Maximizing your strengths takes you to the top, but it is your ability to handle your weaknesses that keeps you there. 4. Identify what grass your attention Things that can get your full attention can also be your talent. Countless studies have shown that the human mind has a short attention span. Hence, whatever you put your full concentration into is most likely a talent. Human fully concentrated reveals that you enjoy doing that thing and it makes you happy. The things that make you happy can also show your abilities. So, give thoughts about the things that you love to do. Try and recall activities that you can help others with even before they ask. Take time to answer questions such as what are those things that you completely lose track of time when you do them? What do you start doing that you don't even notice time passing? What subject can you spend so much time talking about? As you think, please write down the answers on a clean sheet of paper where you can go back to them in later times. 5. Childhood activities Take time to recall your happiest moments as a kid, especially in your elementary school. For example, were you that 7-year-old boy who was always enthusiastic about recess just because he wants to play soccer? Or who kicked cans in the school hallway? Did you enjoy dancing or singing? Were you that kid who almost destroyed the kitchen utensils by using them to play the drums? Or maybe you were the type that loved competitions and always led your class team to victory. You will not be able to recall every of your childhood experiences but you can ask all the family members. As you try to identify those things, consider if you're still thrilled by them even as an adult. Take these recollections as a hint to get busy playing again. See how much of your childhood you can recreate in your adulthood by following your sense of play. Using your talents in recreation gives your brain a chance to play, making you more productive in every other area of your life. You may be shocked that when you get involved in them again, those very things that orge you when you were much younger are still the same things that interest you even as an adult. 6. Ask friends what your best and worst qualities are Sometimes an outside perspective can be more precise than your own. Ask around and people will usually be happy to tell you what they see as your strengths. Talk to individuals who know you like your siblings, parents, friends or even your mentor. Also reach out to those who you just met what their first impression about you is. The great thing about asking a handful of trusted persons about your qualities is that they all usually say the same thing. It's unlikely to hear different people see you in the same light which is an indicator of talent. Use your friends' perspectives here to work on what you'd like to do better. You don't have to agree to everything they say. Still, keep your mind open and try to contrast their answers to the knowledge you already have about yourself. 7. Keep a journal Writing can be a great way to discover hidden answers. Putting down your thoughts into writing can open up a stream of more profound thoughts which is highly effective at identifying talents. Develop the habit of letting your feelings out every day. When you write, don't read or try to make any corrections immediately. Instead, walk away and get back to your journal after a week or two. When you read them all together, you'll find that though the tone and words are different, they all revolve around one main idea. Always use the concept from the journal to create a list of your strengths and flaws. Assess the distance between where you want to be and where you are now and use the answers to set new goals for yourself. 8. Ask others what their talents are. Others being inspired by others' talents makes us realize what we are good at. Even though the ability differs, when you see people who have discovered their talents and are putting it to use, you will be motivated to find out yours too. You may even begin to find your strengths when you complement the flaws of others. Although the human part of you might get jealous of others who are utilizing their talents, you ought to use that feeling to your advantage. Rather than getting bitter over it, you can ask them to teach or mentor you, which not and seeing the talent in others will open you up to find yours. 9. Get mentorship. One way to discover yourself more and deploy your talent is through mentorship. Reach out to someone who you admire in your field of interest and ask them to guide you. Your mentor needs not to be a Nobel Prize winner. Be sure that they experience and are willing to help you reach the top of your dreams. A lot of people confuse mentors and role models. One distinct difference is that your mentor ought to be a role model to you. Your role model may even be someone you have no link to. So, since there is an authority in your area that you admire, as long as you do not have any personal contact with them, they adjust role models and not mentors. Your mentor is someone you have a direct link to. Although there is a subtle form of mentorship, it is not the case here. Mentorship in the case of talent discovery is a direct mentor who will answer all your questions, give your assignments and be your accountability partner. 10. Try it all out. One anonymous quote says, consistency is key to success. It may come naturally to you, but you still have to work at mastery. No matter how talented you are at something, if you do not consistently put it into practice, that gifting may fade out. You don't have to spend 8 hours a day at it. If you have a full-time job, try spending just 30 minutes a day. More than just practice, you need to practice well. At times, practicing can be tiring, regardless of the love you have for that thing. Hence, you must create a reward structure for yourself. As you reward yourself, you will be more motivated to put more time and efforts into practicing. You can practice by helping others in related areas, volunteerism or even building a business around it and rendering free services. Practicing strengthens your strengths and weakens your weaknesses. But it also gives you credibility among people around you. There are many good reasons to want to explore your talents, but it's going to take a little work. Thus, even as you try to discover your talent, you must develop patience.